Mobile phones incorporate components that make them versatile and practically indispensable to their owners. Most existing smartphones include a camera and various inertial sensors, such as an accelerometer or compass. The smartphones can also include a proximity sensor, magnetometer, or other types of sensors.
Smartphones can be used to capture information with their cameras. Users value a smartphone's ability to take pictures because this feature allows the user to easily capture memorable moments or images of documents, such as might occur when performing bank transactions. However, smartphones are generally used to acquire images of simple scenes, such as a single photograph or a video with a sequence of image frames.
Heretofore, smartphones have not been used to produce output that can be printed to a three-dimensional (3D) printer. Such printers can be used to print a 3D representation of an object. However, a suitable 3D representation of an object has generally been created with specialized hardware and software applications.